Oh Baby!
by straightlyconfused
Summary: One minute Draco Malfoy was a sort after bachelor lusting after the sexy, single Hermione Granger. The next minute, he's Draco Malfoy, a single parent who desperately needs the help of one Hermione Granger. Can these two find the balance between love, lust, and raising Scorpius? Only time can tell.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I make no money from writing this story. This story is based on characters created and owned by the marvellous J.K Rowling. I can only stand by green with envy writing silly little stories that will never amount to even a quarter of the pure awesomeness that is her series Harry Potter.

**- Friday -**

Draco Malfoy was rushing. He hated rushing but, unfortunately, it was a big part of his life. He maintained a hectically scheduled life. That was par for the course when you were Seeker for the Montrose Magpies and owned your own Quidditch supplies store. Managing busy sporting stardom and running your own business was no easy feat but Draco wouldn't have it any other way.

On this particular day, Draco had been in Diagon Alley checking on his store. "Malfoy Quality Quidditch Supplies" was a very popular store namely because of who Draco was but also because he only stocked the best of everything to do with Quidditch. His manager Theo (yes Nott) ran the store with the help of Adrian (yes Purtell) and they did a good job but Draco liked to get involved whenever he could. It had just so happened that that very morning Draco had had free. His team's training wasn't until late afternoon. Draco had only stepped into the store an hour ago before he was suddenly being summoned by his personal house elf Whisper to return home immediately – there was an emergency.

So now Draco was rushing. One could not simply just apparate or disaparate anywhere in the middle of Diagon Alley. The crowd population was often too high and one risked appearing in on top of someone. There was a designated point of apparition – which Draco now realized seemed annoyingly far away from his store. He passed many stores on his hurried way but there was one that always always always caught his attention. It was a large storefront with a sign out the front that read, "Baby Magic". Draco knew it to be a childcare centre owned and operated by Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger. He knew this because every time he passed the store he had to pause for a moment. He paused because more often then not Hermione Granger was working at the front of the store and the sight of her captivated Draco. She had grown up a lot since the end of the War, she'd come into her looks and into her personality. She was successful, independent, annoyingly kind and devastating gorgeous. Draco had, on occasion, seen men pacing out front of the store trying to devise a plan to capture Granger's attention. He didn't think any of these men had yet to have been successful – the most obvious downfall in their plans – no matter how creative – being their obvious lack of child. Men with children, as attractive as they also found Granger, were often married men and that ruled them squarely out of the game.

A slight pause later, Draco remembered he was rushing and dashed off to the apparition point. A loud crack, a short trip in a magic elevator and wave of his hand later and Draco found himself rushing into his penthouse apartment and calling for his elf. He expected the tense vibe of stress, he expected Whisper's terrified look (the elf was far too nervous around him) but what he did not expect was the cry of an unsettled infant as Whisper abandoned his post in order to greet her master at the door.

"Mister Draco" Whisper rambled out, "I is not expecting a baby Mister Draco. Boots is leaving the baby and the paper with Whisper suddenly!"

Boots was an elf who worked over at Malfoy Manor, Draco's childhood home, that had been shut up and basically abandoned by Draco the moment his parents were sent to Azkaban. The family's elfs still continued to work there cleaning and preserving the house, all except Whisper who Draco had taken with him.

"That's- ah – Whisper why – a baby?" Draco finally managed to stutter out.

The child couldn't have been more then two years old Draco reasoned, younger he would think. It was clearly a boy, he was sitting on the floor in front of Draco's black suede couch with the tell-tale Malfoy platinum blonde hair and grey eyes. This child's hair was straight, like Draco's, and fell just above his eyebrows, just like Draco', and clutched in his hand a stuffed green dragon. From a distant, he seemed upset, although when Whisper quickly rushed back to him, patting him softly on the head the boy seemed to settle.

"Whisper can be bringing you the paper Mister Draco" Whisper muttered quietly.

For a moment longer Draco just stared, this child was obviously his own, he looked so much like him. But how? How was it possible that Draco had managed to help create a child and not know that it had existed? Who was its mother and where was she? It took another second but Draco slowly realized he would have to read this paper Whisper kept mentioning. It probably would hold more answers then Draco was likely to devise just standing there.

"Where is the paper Whisper?" Draco croaked out, "I'll fetch it, you just stay with the - you just stay there"

"Whisper is leaving the paper on the kitchen bench Mister Draco" Whisper told him quickly.

With one final confused glance at the child, Draco strode into the kitchen and snatched the rolled up piece of parchment, roughly pulling it open as though the parchment itself had done this to him. What he found was a letter, addressed to him written in neat cursive,

_"Dear Draco,_

_There is no easy way to explain any of this to you and, frankly, if I'd tried to contact you personally I believe you'd have probably tried to pay me off. However, I can not do this anymore. I am not mother material and…well… you are his father._

_Draco this is your son Scorpius. He was born July 3 – he is 16 months old. I don't know if you'd even remember me but we had a one night stand just over two years ago. I'll admit I was niave back then. I thought perhaps – after spending three days chasing me – you might be a little bit more serious then you actually were so I was hurt when you kicked me out of your bed the following morning. I was just beginning to get over you when I realized I was pregnant. I tried to contact you – twice – but both times I got no reply._

_Scorpius is every bit your son. He looks like you, his first word was "no" and he will not allow me to rid him of that stupid green dragon. I used to have a life Draco, I used to be able to go out and enjoy myself before I got tied down with your child and I just can't do it anymore. I want my old life back. So do with him what you will – either keep him or give him away but either way I am not cut out to be a mother. Hopefully, you are cut out to be a father._

_Please don't contact me._

_De-Vine"_

Draco allowed himself to read the full letter, taking in the all details, before he scrunched it up and threw it angrily into the bin. Yes, he knew exactly who De-Vine was. She was some stupid Pureblood slut from America that he had allowed himself to sleep with one day when he'd met her on a Vacation over in the UK. Her name was stupid, she was stupid and she'd been a lousy fuck. He had thrown her out of his apartment as soon as possible the next morning. He couldn't believe he'd been stupid enough to get the cow pregnant.

"Mister Draco?"

Draco's head snapped to the entrance to the kitchen where Whisper stood quietly, the small boy toddling behind her. Was it normal for children to be walking at 16 months of age? Draco didn't know.

"Yes?" Draco snapped.

"Yous is having your training in 2 hours Mister Draco" Whisper told him hesitantly.

Then, right in that moment, it all began to dawn on Draco. What was he going to do? He was a Qudditich Star, bachelor, heir to the Malfoy line who had just now discovered he himself has produced an heir and he was in no way prepared to be a single parent. He would probably accidently kill the child before the day was out. He knew nothing about children. He needed some serious help. It was as if a light bulb went off in Draco's mind. Help, he needed help! He needed help from someone who knew about this kind of stuff, did this kind of stuff for a living. Granger!

A sudden something started tugging on his leg and Draco looked down to see his "son" had made his way across the kitchen to Draco and was holding onto his leg, gazing up at him with big grey eyes. Slowly and carefully, Draco lowered himself to the level of the boy and looked at him very seriously.

"Hello Scorpius" he said softly, "I'm your father"

"Da!" Scorpius said, happily.

Draco frowned for a moment before he nodded,

"Ok. I'm your dad" he said.

**Xxxxx**

Hermione Granger was having a very busy day. She had started early at 7am that morning when one of their staff who was supposed to open the centre had called in sick. Hermione didn't mind this so much, she didn't mind rising early, it was just that she'd had a late night having trouble sleeping.

Hermione and Ginny had opened "Baby Magic" shortly after the war. They had wanted to do something positive, lead careers that felt rewarding to them, not just your typical Ministry of Magic job. They had started in a one room building and now in the four since they'd opened, they'd grown into a five room centre. Ginny still taught in a room as a Room Leader but Hermione much preferred the admin side of things and so she fulfilled the 'Director' role. However, she did enjoy taking the time out to spend with the children.

On this particular afternoon, Hermione had just sat down behind her desk to relax for a second. She'd just come from dealing with a new enrollment and the tour of the centre had been torturous given the heels she had chosen to wear to work that morning – a disastrous error in judgment in hindsight. Hermione always dressed professionally when going to work, this morning was no different with a tight, black pencil skirt and a silk grey singlet top that she'd tucked into the skirt, she'd finished her outside off with a pair of her favourite black pumps- which she now realized she should save for "going out" nights. So she'd returned from her enrollment tour and taken refuge behind her desk, dreaming of slipping off her shoes when she'd heard the faint "ting" of the centre's door charming alerting her that someone had just entered the premise. Sighing, she got back up and moved into reception to greet whoever it may be.

What Hermione hadn't expected was to find Draco Malfoy standing there, child in his arms, looking very stressed as he glanced around desperately.

"Malfoy?" she said, surprised, "Is that a child? Is that **your** child?"

The resemblance between the little boy and Malfoy was uncanny. It had to be his son, Hermione rationalized.

"Granger I need help" he said, no hesitation, no time spent covering the tone of distress in his office.

Surprised by this, Hermione silently gestured towards her office. Watching as he didn't waste a second moving inside and taking a seat at her desk. Respecting his need for privacy, Hermione also moved inside her office, shutting the door behind her. Malfoy wasted no time thrusting a piece of parchment into her hands.

"Read this!" he said, his words slightly more coloured with anger now.

Hermione took a seat behind her desk, eyes skimming the letter as her eyebrows raised in total shock. Malfoy had fathered a child, with a complete stranger it would seem, and judging by her words and his demeanor he had known nothing about it. No wonder he looked so stressed. Carefully placing the letter onto her desk, Hermione studied the boy perched on Draco's lap.

"Well he certainly looks like your son Draco. Do you mind?"

"Not at all" he said.

Feeling the occasion for formality had well and truly passed, Hermione kicked off her heels and stood up, reaching out and retrieving Scorpius from Draco's arms. The boy gurgled away excitedly and reached out to touch Hermione's face.

"Well he's friendly" Hermione said.

She brought Scorpius back to her seat and sat him on his own lap, taking a hold of one of his hands before she pointed quickly at Draco.

"Look at daddy Scorpius" she cooed, "Where's Daddy? There he is"

With the little boy's attention fixed on Draco for a moment, Hermione took the chance to point her wand quickly at his chubby into index finger and make a quick jab. A small droplet of blood welled up which the baby didn't even notice, but Draco did.

"For Merlin's sake Granger what are you doing?" Draco roared, "I wanted you to help me not hurt the damn child!"

"Oh settle Malfoy" Hermione hushed dismissively, "and give me your hand"

She dropped the droplet of Scorpius's blood onto a tissue on her desk before she pricked Draco's finger as well, adding his blood to Scorpius's and mutter a quick spell. The two different bloods mixed together and formed a small plus sign.

"He is definitely your son, no tricks" Hermione announced.

For a moment, Draco heaved a sigh before dropping his head into his hands and Hermione realized she felt quite sorry for him.

"Malfoy" she said quietly, "Its going to be ok…"

"How?" he snapped, "This morning when I woke up I was a happy bachelor, I went out to bars, I picked up women, I had my way with them and they left. I was a Quidditch superstar, a business owner, a son, a nephew, a heart breaker but certainly I was no one's father. Now though, in the space of an hour, all that has changed and, suddenly, I have a son!"

"Are you going to try and contact this De-Vine woman?" Hermione asked him.

He shook his head sharply, "The first thing I am going to do in regards to De-Vine is contact my lawyer and transfer full custody of Scorpius over to me and then she will never see him again! What kind of mother abandons their own child I ask you!"

Hermione nodded quietly, she could understand Draco's despair. She gazed down at Scorpius who sat on her lap, quite content to play interestedly with his own ten fingers and toes.

"I don't know what to do Granger. I am not prepared for this. I have no idea how to be a father, let alone a good one. I need help" Draco sighed.

Heaving a sigh herself, Hermione stood, walking across her office and placing Scorpius on the floor next to a box of toys she kept in her office especially for meetings with parents. Then she took a seat in the chair next to Draco and placed her hand comfortingly on his leg.

"The first thing you need to do Draco is realize that you have a beautiful, healthy, happy baby boy" she said to him comfortingly, "Scorpius does not seem to have been overly affected by any of this sudden change and that is a good thing. Look, he's happy"

She watched as Draco glanced quickly over at his son and felt him relax slightly.

"The next thing you need to do is focus on the basics. He's going to need a bed, a change table, toys, clothes, nappies and food"

"I have a designer who can organize all that for me" Draco said, after a moment.

Hermione nodded, "Then we must send her an owl. Scorpius is going to need all that stuff today"

"I can do that" Draco affirmed.

"Good" Hermione replied, "Now might I suggest I get you an enrollment form and you enroll Scorpius into our centre. As a single dad you are going to need someone to look after him during the day and I can assure you we provide the best care"

"Ok"

With a snap of her fingers, Hermione had a form flying across the office and into her hands which she then placed in front of Draco with a quill. It took him a few minutes but he filled out the basic information and signed his name at the bottom.

"The last thing Scorpius is going to need" Hermione told him, "is his father. He's lost his mother and whatever other family he might have known. You're all he's got right now and he's going to need you"

She watched, relieved when Draco nodded again. She was beginning to worry she had overwhelmed him with all her talk and that he was about to dump the little boy and race out of the centre.

"I still know nothing though" he told her, "I don't know how to change a diaper or feed him or put him to sleep or anything and I have to get to training soon!"

He was right, Hermione realized, he knew nothing. Malfoy was an only child, he'd had no experience with younger children ever and he was living completely alone, no girlfriend, no mother, no one.

"I will help you" Hermione told him, disbelief at herself as she spoke the words, "I am due to finish my shift in a moment anyway. I will come with you to training to mind Scorpius and then I will teach you everything you need to know"

Malfoy looked shocked. For a moment, Hermione squirmed uncomfortably as Draco just stared at her, surprised etched into every line on his face. Hermione, like every other woman in the world, was very aware of how attractive Draco Malfoy was. Even during this meeting, during one of the hardest moments in his life, Hermione had found herself examining him. He was built – much more developed since Hogwarts -, his hair had been grown out a little longer and was no longer gelled back but instead hung loosely. It was incredibly hard for Hermione not to reach out and just touch it. His eyes were still their same shocking grey but his features seemed less pointed, more approachable. His skin even had a slight tan to it, probably from hours spent outdoors training for and playing Quidditch.

"Are you sure Granger? I mean I know I said I needed help but …"

"Its fine" Hermione assured him, "I'll just go and let Ginny know I'm leaving"

**Xxxxx**

Draco watched as she quickly bounded out of her office and down the hallway to find the Mini-Weasal. He could not believe Granger had just offered to help him so readily and help him way beyond what he had been expecting. He'd expected her to turn him over to a nannying service or something. He glanced over at Scorpius again who had forsaken the box of toys in favour of his green dragon again. He sat happily on the floor and played with it, he didn't even seem the slightest bit bothered.

Perhaps Granger was right, Draco reasoned, he was simply lucky that Scorpius appeared to b a happy and healthy child. His heir. Surely, Draco could learn how to do this, he could learn how to be a father. After all, if those bloody Weasley's could keep reproducing and not even kill a child then Draco could certainly raise one child. He would learn everything he could from Granger and he'd show stupid De-Vine that even an idiot could raise a child and if an idiot could raise a child then what was she? Truly?

Draco's thoughts suddenly flicked to Granger again. Fuck, she was sexy. The moment she'd met him out in reception in her tight skirt and towering heels Draco had felt his pants become a little tighter, she didn't even appear to notice how appealing she was. When she'd placed her hand on his leg and called him Draco, well the single bachelor Draco who didn't find himself suddenly throw into fatherhood, would have turned her over on her desk and given her the good pounding he desperately wanted to give her. Unfortunately though, he was no longer single, bachelor Draco with no responsibilities. He was now single parent Draco with a 16-month-old son.

"I'm back" Hermione announced, "Lets go!"


	2. Chapter 2

**- Friday - **

Hermione sat patiently in the stands at Montrose stadium watching as Draco Malfoy took part in his Friday afternoon/night training. They'd sent a quick owl to Draco's designer about Scorpius right before they'd left the centre and she'd written back to assure them that a room would be made up in his penthouse apartment for Scorpius before they got home. Hermione had made sure to include a list of everything that would be required so she hoped Draco's designer had the sense to pay attention to it.

At her feet, happy to play on the floor, sat Scorpius. A half hour ago, Hermione had tried him on a mashed mix of beef, pasta and vegies and she was delighted when he'd eaten the entire lot. He wasn't a fussy child, which would make everything so much easier on Draco in the long run. Draco – she wasn't going to make this easy for him. She was not going to do all this for him; he needed to learn how to care for his son himself. Hermione fully intended to simply observe and instruct tonight so that Draco could experience what a young child's home routine should be like. It was going to be a challenge for him but on the other hand Hermione was glad that Draco hadn't displayed any signs of wishing to simply give Scorpius up. He seemed oddly determined to do this.

A whistle blew signally the end of training and Hermione watched as Draco soared down, landing softly beside them on the stands – no easy feat Hermione would think.

"How is he?" he asked her.

Comfortingly, Hermione smiled, "He's perfectly fine"

Watching Scorpius carefully, Draco nodded, "I'll just hit the showers and then we can go"

He disappeared again and Hermione sighed. She would be lying if she didn't say she hadn't taken a second to take a quick perv of Draco. Hermione was not the slightest bit into Quidditch but Draco made it look slightly appealing. She frowned and shook her head quickly, scolding herself for thinking such thoughts. She was here to care for the man's child, not lust after him. Ridiculous.

**Xxxxx**

"Is that Granger sitting out there fucker?"

Draco turned in the shower to face his long-time friend and now team mate Blaise Zabini. The two had known each other since childhood and were close. They spoke about mostly everything.

"Yeah she's minding Scorpius for me"

Right before he'd left for the centre, Draco had flooed Blaise and told him exactly what was going on. His friend had been outraged on his behalf and had made threats of evil plans to carry out against the slutty De-Vine but Draco had declined. De-Vine could go on her way but she was kidding herself if she thought she'd one day change her mind and come back for her son.

"She's your nanny?" Blaise asked incredulously

"No. Just helping me out today. She's going to teach me all I need to know about raising a baby"

"I reckon she could do a thing or two to raise you buddy, if you get what I mean" Blaise said, smirking and wiggling his eyebrows.

"Tell me about it" Draco responded, "What I wouldn't give to live out one of those 'Man of the house fucks the naughty nanny' porn scenes"

"Who says you can't?"

Draco scoffed, "Oh come on Blaise! It's Granger! She might be hot as hell but she's probably waiting for marriage or some shit"

"I don't think so buddy" Blaise shook his head, "I spoke with Henry Rollings a month or two ago. Did you know she had a thing with him? Anyway, he told me that she ended it but he'd been sad to see her go because, well apparently she's got some talents that she kept a secret at Hogwarts"

Draco raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Really?"

"Oh yeah. Not quite the virginal little bookworm we all expected. What I wouldn't give to have a go with her in the sack"

"Its never going to happen buddy" Draco told him confidently, "Its still Granger out there and Rollings aside, I bet she's got herself locked up tighter then a vault at Gringotts"

**Xxxxx**

Hermione had to fight to suppress a gasp as she entered into Malfoy's top story penthouse apartment. It was breath taking, from the view to the interior design it was far beyond the messy bachelor pad she had been envisaging. Instead, the place was well-kept, nicely designed with a theme of crèmes, blacks and greys and open and spacious.

"Welcome to my place Granger" Draco said to her, Scorpius still in his arms.

Forcing herself to stay on task, Hermione looked around the apartment, noticing the tell-tale signs of baby-proofing, a highchair and a bedroom door that now read 'Scorpius Malfoy'. She crossed his living room to peak inside the room and found it designed in a theme of blues and crèmes and stocked with everything she had asked for in a tasteful and practical manner.

"Is it all ok?" Draco asked her, coming to stand close behind her.

For a moment, Hermione froze up. She could feel the hardness of his muscled body as he looked over her shoulder, she could smell his freshly applied aftershave and the breath of his voice had tickled her neck, causing her to break out in little goosebumps. If she'd taken a moment to glance behind her, she would have noticed Draco's smirk as he took note of those little reactions from her.

"Its fine, perfect actually" she said, trying to keep her voice regulated and under control.

She felt Draco give a sigh of relief and quickly decided their proximity was way too close. She quickly excused herself and moved back out into the kitchen where she found a bunch of baby food products stocked inside one of the cupboards.

"Draco get Scorpius and bring him here" she told him.

Moments later, Hermione was showing Draco how to secure Scorpius in his highchair.

"Now you must always give his hands and face a quick clean before he eats. You don't want him to ingest some nasty germs and get sick" she informed him.

With a quick wave of her wand, Scorpius was clean and fresh and Hermione showed Draco how to prepare one of his baby meals and then help Scorpius to feed himself.

"This is terribly messy Granger" he complained moments later.

Hermione chuckled, "Welcome to children Draco. They **are** messy"

As soon as Scorpius's meal was finished, Hermione had Draco carry him into the bathroom and showed him how to properly bathe his son. While they were there she also showed him how to change a nappy. Hermione wasn't surprised when Draco balked at the idea of doing it manually so she showed him a quick charm to clean down and change his son without having to physically touch him.

"His nappy should be changed every two hours of the hours that he's awake. Its ok if he's asleep. Which brings me to naps, he will need to nap for at least an hour or two every day after lunch. Trust me if you can get him into some kind of routine like that you will be happier – nap time for children is grown up time for adults"

The moment she said it, Hermione watched as a smirk crossed Draco's face.

"Grown up time Granger? Sounds very…. intimate"

Hermione instantly felt the blush rise to her cheeks as she quickly changed her focal point and shook her head quickly,

"Grown up time Draco" she clarified, "Time to get the things done that you can't do when the baby is awake like work, reading, cleaning…"

"…. Fucking?"

Hermione frowned at him, "You shouldn't swear in front of the baby Draco. He's at that age where he will pick up whatever you say. I'm sure you don't want me calling you into the centre because Scorpius is using the F Word around the other children"

Quickly, she turned and fled the bathroom, rightly expecting Draco to follow her as she moved into Scorpius's bedroom.

"Now bed time is important. Don't put him to bed late or he won't get enough sleep and you will both pay for it the next day. Now sleeping is always different with every child, Scorpius may very well put himself to sleep or, if he is unsettled, you may need to pat him"

"He's not a dog Granger"

Hermione shook her head and directed Draco to put Scorpius in his crib, laying down on his stomach. She was happy to see Scorpius settled and did not fuss, he would probably put himself to sleep in that case.

"Now you see this" Hermione whispered to him, pointing to a small crystal rock on the baby's dresser, "this is the wizarding version of a baby monitor. There will be one placed on your nightstand in your room. If, for any reason, Scorpius wakes up in the middle of the night and needs you then your crystal will light up and give a loud, high-pitched beeping sound. It'll only stop when you've gotten up to attend to Scorpius"

Quietly, Hermione turned off the lights in Scorpius's room and tip toed out after seeing the baby was almost asleep. He was such a good little boy, Hermione considered. She waited until they were back out into the living room before she turned to face Draco.

"I will jot down a rough outline of what your morning and afternoon routine should be if you are not training so that you can at least begin to implement it tomorrow morning. Its important that you – what?"

Hermione had stopped mid-rant because the look on Draco's face seemed so sad that she'd not been able to take it anymore, she needed to know what his problem was.

"Spit it out Draco, what's wrong?"

For a moment he said nothing, but then he moved and collapsed onto his couch and, suddenly, he looked tired.

"My entire life is going to change isn't it Granger? I mean, routines and bath times and bed times and crystals that are going to beep me into insanity… its all different now isn't it?"

Hermione sighed and sat down in the sofa chair near him. She felt sorry for him, this was a lot to take on board. Most men had nine months to prepare for all this and Draco hadn't even had nine minutes but she wasn't going to sugarcoat it for him. That would do him or Scorpius no favours.

"Yes" she said quite bluntly, "its all different now Draco. You're a father. This is what fatherhood is all about. Scorpius **has** to come first. He **has** to be your number one priority at all times. He's got a deadbeat for a mother he deserves a good father. He's a beautiful child really, he's not fussy, he's not overly traumatized by all these big changes and so far he's managed to avoid the genetic Slytherin cunning your bloodline will undoubtedly be carrying. He could be making this harder on you but he's not. You're very lucky"

"Ok" Draco said but he still looked sad.

"I'll tell you what" Hermione said, "You look exhausted. Why don't you chill out for a bit and I'll make you something quick for dinner before I go"

"Thanks" Draco said quietly.

Leaving him to his thoughts, Hermione went into his kitchen and started looking through his cupboards until she came up with the ingredients for apricot chicken. She set the pan to warming and begun to chop up the chicken. It only took a few minutes but soon Draco moved into the kitchen and leaned against one of the benches out of the way while she worked.

"I do mean it Hermione" he said, her name almost said in a purr, "Thank you. You don't owe me anything but you've gone so far out of your way today to help me"

She shook her head, "I'm not doing it for you Draco. I'm doing it for Scorpius- like I said, he deserves a father who can really look after him and raise him right, but, you're welcome"

They settled into a comfortable silence again for a couple of minutes while Hermione browned the chicken before Draco asked her,

"Did you date Henry Rollings?"

As far as Hermione was concerned the question had come out of nowhere and she was hit with a massive wave of shock. Unfocussed she dropped the wooden spoon on the floor and cursed as she bent down to retrieve it and moved to the sink to wash it.

"Where did you hear that…?" she mumbled.

"Blaise" Draco shrugged, he felt no need to lie, "They're mates"

"Well I don't see how its anyone's business" Hermione said defensively.

"Woah Hermione! Relax!" Draco said.

He moved over to her and placed his hands on her hips, turning her around to face him.

"It was just a question babe" he said, slowly.

"Babe?" Hermione prickled, "I'm not your babe Malfoy. I'm a grown woman and who I've dated or not dated in the past is my own business!"

She spun around and away from him, moving back to the stove to add the apricot base and the vegies. How dare he bring that up!

**Xxxxx**

Draco watched her cautiously as she turned her back to him and continued cooking at the stove. Obviously, Henry Rollings was a sensitive topic. She was funny Granger, not funny hilarious, but funny in her reactions. That one simple question had gotten her so riled up and yet it must have been public knowledge if she'd dated the man.

He couldn't help getting a glance at her while she had her back to him. She was petite Granger, Draco could tell she didn't carry a lot of excess body fat on her but her clothing still showed off her curves that made her undeniably female. Somehow Draco didn't see her picking out her own clothing, if he had to guess he'd say the Mini-Weasal had done it for her. Whoever had, she looked good. She'd smelled good too when he'd been standing so close up behind her before. It had taken a vast amount of self-control on his part to resist the urge to lean down and nibble at her neck, marking her. The thought alone made Draco begin to shift uncomfortably as his pants began to tighten slightly.

"What did he say?"

Draco was quickly brought back to the present when Hermione asked him the question.

"Who?"

"Blaise" Hermione sighed, "What did Henry tell him?"

"He told him that you ended the relationship and you were good in the sack"

"Typical" she grumbled, tossing the chicken around in the pan with her spoon, "Typical bloody men"

"Relax babe, it's a compliment"

"I told you – "

She spun around to snap at him but Draco knew he'd throw her off when she realized how close he'd gotten to her. He was standing up close behind her again, a distance less then the length of the wooden spoon separating them now.

"I'm going to call you babe" he told her, forcefully, "and you need to relax"

Perhaps bravely, Draco brought his hand up to run up the length of her thigh, bringing her skirt up with it as he went.

"What are you doing?" Hermione gasped, attempting to step back but meeting the bench instead.

"No questions Granger, just trust me, you'll enjoy it"

She attempted to push his hand away but Draco was having none of that. He ignored her and kept moving upwards, his fingers now lightly skimming across her underwear.

"I know what you're trying to do and I don't like – "

"Nonsense" Draco said, "I can feel how wet you're panties are getting and I haven't even touched you yet"

He felt her shiver on the word 'yet' and realized just how easy this was going to be. He smirked in victory as he slipped a finger insider her underwear and was met with definite arousal. He ran his finger the length of her slit, nudging slightly at her clit, watching as her eyelids fluttered for a moment.

"Good girl" he cooed, "Now let me see…."

With one hand occupied, Draco trailed his other up her body, pushing the straps of her single grey singlet down so it fell to the top of her skirt, revealing a black lacy bra.

"Exactly what I wanted to see" he groaned, pushing his hand inside one of the bra cups and playing with the hardened nipple he found inside.

"The … dinner…" Hermione moaned.

"Turn off the stove" Draco ordered her.

With a wave of her hand, Draco watched as the element went dark, no longer heated, and rewarded her by slipping his finger insider her, pumping in and out of her easily slickened by her juices. He watched as Hermione's eyes fluttered closed and pinched her nipple slightly rougher as he leant in and began nipping at her deliciously available neck. He heard her gasp and felt himself harden further. She tasted delicious but he knew it wasn't enough. After marking her, he trailed his lips up to her hers and, finally, engaged them in a steamy kiss, his tongue probing inside her mouth. When he felt her respond, Draco finally gave into his own desires, slipping another finger inside her underwear and inside her, roughening his movements as he thrust his fingers deep inside her. He felt a new wave of arousal coat his fingers as he did.

"Oh you like that Granger? Do you enjoy my fingers deep inside you?"

She was leaning back against the bench, head thrown back, small moans escaping from between her lips and yet the cheeky minx still had the guts to begin moaning,

"No, No I –"

"Don't lie to me" he ordered.

"Yes" she finally gave in, "I like it"

"I know" he told her.

He grabbed her breast harder and plunged deeper inside her, forcing himself up against her harden so she could feel him, and she did, she felt his hardness brushing against her thigh as she finally fell apart and came with a small cry.

Draco pressed a bruising kiss to her lips before he removed his fingers from her and licked them clean.

"You taste delicious Granger" he told her.

However, he didn't wait for her response. Instead, her reached down pulling her singlet over her head and threw it behind him as he unzipped her skirt and allowed it to fall to the floor, leaving her in nothing but her heels and her underwear.

"Much better" he said.

"What are – "

"Remove my shirt" he told her, no room for arguments.

Still unsure why she was doing it, Hermione unbuttoned his shirt and watched as Draco removed it and dropped it to the floor. In the next minute, he'd lifted her, forcing her to wrap her legs around his hips and began walking her towards what she assumed was his bedroom, his lips once again attached to her neck. She didn't know if it was that she was still coming down from her orgasm or whether it was that Draco's attentions were beginning to arouse her again but Hermione barely had time to notice his room before she found herself on her back on his bed.

"Undo my pants"

He kissed her then, plunging his tongue into her mouth, and moving his hand behind her to unclip her bra. When do, he pulled it off her and attached his lips to her previously forgotten breast, kicking off the pants Hermione had unbuttoned. He heard her gasp at the revelation he went commando.

"Stroke me"

"But I –"

"**Now** Hermione!"

A moment later he felt her small hand take a hold of him and begin to work him, slowly and gently.

"Harder, I'm steel babe. You won't break me"

She followed his instructions and was rewarded when Draco groaned loudly into her breast and his hips involuntarily thrust into her hand. His mouth was igniting a fire within her once more but he really stirred the flames when his finger slipped insider her once more but it was short lived as Draco moved off her for a moment, rolling her onto her stomach, before he nipped at the back of her ear and pulled her up into a crouching position.

"You have no idea how many times I imagined this Granger, brought myself to climax dreaming of this" he growled,

Then, Hermione felt him push into her from behind, filling her in a way completely and causing her to moan loudly, gripping at his sheets. After that, Draco was not gentle. He took her hard, slamming into her, pounding her as he'd thought about in her office that afternoon. Hermione could hear the sound of his flesh slapping against hers as he ignited her entire body.

"Come for me Granger. I want to feel you explode, I want to hear you scream my name"

"Draco!" she cried out, "Oh Draco!"

She felt herself fall over the edge and a few seconds later he followed her. Gripping her hips so tightly as he spilled his seed insider of her.

"Merlin! Yes!" he groaned.

As they finished, Hermione's arms and legs gave out and she collapsed ont her stomach, rolling onto her side as soon as she felt Draco pull out of her. As exhausted as she was, she begun to rethink their steps, tracing the exact whereabouts of her clothes, but she needn't have bothered. Seconds later, Draco pulled her up the bed and tucked her under the sheets with him, pulling her body flush against him and falling straight to sleep.

Hermione could feel herself giving into sleep as well. She barely had time to scold herself for her poor judgement – a parent of one of her new kids, was she insane? – and mutter a contraceptive charm before the darkness took her and she slept also.


	3. Chapter 3

**- Saturday -**

Hermione stirred early the next morning and for a moment it took her a second to figure out where she was. She appeared to be in someone else's bed, that part was obvious because never in her life had Hermione owned black, silk sheets but also the muscled arm slung across her waist, holding her firmly in place blew any doubts straight out of the water. Then it all came flying back to her and Hermione cursed herself. How could she have been so stupid! Firstly, to sleep with someone who was essentially a client but also to sleep with Draco Malfoy! He'd needed help, not a shag! Still very cranky at herself, Hermione slowly extracted his arm from around her and crept out of his bed. He didn't wake and for that Hermione was grateful. Quickly enough, she located her underwear and slipped it on before she moved out into the kitchen to retrieve the rest of her clothes. Once dressed fully, she tip toed across the living room and poked her head into Scorpius's room to check on him. The little boy was still sound asleep, his chest rising and falling in slow, gentle movements.

Hermione made sure to shut his door very gently, barely causing a sound. She was preparing to sneak back across the living room, however, when the door to Draco's bedroom opened and he came strolled out, completely and totally naked. Hermione paused for a second as her eyes roved up and down his body, he was certainly built and he was certainly well endowed, so much so that a small part of her brain had trouble registering how he'd not hurt her last night when he'd – She gave a quick, sharp shake of her head. She was not going to think about it.

"Sneaking out Granger?" Draco asked as he moved more into the living room.

"I was trying" she admitted.

She watched as he frowned, "That's a bit of a blow to my confidence. Usually I am the one to chuck the girls out in the morning"

Hermione highly doubted his confidence had been shaken as she saw him becoming harder and more erect as she began heading towards his front door.

"Let me save you the trouble" she muttered.

He moved too quickly for her though and managed to get to her before she got to the door. He pulled her gently against him, arms wrapped very low around her hips, as he leant against the wall.

"Now, now babe, settle. Who says I was planning to chuck **you** out?"

"I already told you, I hate being called 'babe' and you said – "

"I said 'usually'" he interrupted, "And I have already told you, I like calling you babe and I'm going to continue"

Hermione didn't have time to register an answer before he'd leant down and pressed his lips to hers in a slow but passionate filled kiss. A part of Hermione wanted to give in, he filled pretty much every criteria she had when it came to men she was interested in. He was smart, would keep her on her toes, strong, a little dominating but he'd compromise if he had to and he was unbelievably good in bed. Although, Hermione knew it was wrong and so she put a hand to his naked chest and pushed him away.

"We're not doing this again" she told him firmly, "This is wrong Draco. It should never have happened. You are one of my clients and you are in a vulnerable place right now – I should have known better then to let us cross that line last night"

"Granger" he replied, a smirk now fully evident, "We didn't just cross the line, I fucked you doggy style on it. So who gives a nifler's ass about the line? Also, technically I'm not a client yet. Scorpius hasn't even started at your centre yet. So there is no problem. As for being vulnerable? I'm a little out of my depth right now yes but vulnerable? No. I knew what I wanted last night Granger, funnily enough it was the same thing you wanted, so I made the both of us very very happy"

"Stop trying to twist the situation Draco. I'm going home" Hermione said, frustrated.

She yanked herself out of his grasp and headed for the door once more but once again he stopped her.

"I still need help Granger!"

"Well hire a nanny" she snapped.

"How do I find one of those on such short notice?"

Then she saw red.

"Are you meaning to tell me that after everything I taught you yesterday at the first sign of being on your own you're going to dump that little boy straight into the arms of a waiting nanny?"

Draco sighed, "No! I said I was going to try this single parent thing and I am but today is a Saturday. I have a Quidditch game in less then three hours and I would imagine it's going to take me longer then that to find a nanny for Scorpius"

"Oh" Hermione said quietly.

"I'll get you great seats" Draco bargained.

"No!"

"You'll be able to see every angle of the entire game"

"Still no. I don't like Quidditch"

She walked to the door, hand on the handle when she felt his arm wrap around her from behind and felt him whisper in her ear,

"I'll make you cum so hard you totally forget all this 'line' nonsense"

"No Malfoy!" she said, spinning around to face him, "I will do you this last favour and I will mind Scorpius at the game today but tomorrow you find a nanny!"

She didn't give him time to answer then before she ripped his arm from her body and yanked open his front door, almost hitting him, and stormed out.

**Xxxxx**

She had fire that was for sure, Draco concluded. She was going to play hard to get majorly and Draco found this excited him. He liked the idea of getting to chase Granger. It was a massive turn on for him. He shut his front door and was heading for the shower when he heard the tell-sale signs of an owl pecking noisily at his living room window. He let it in recognizing it as Blaise's owl and read its letter,

"_So is Granger a loud or quiet screw?"_

Smirking, Draco wrote him back telling him to floo over in 30 minutes. He desperately needed to have a shower before the baby woke up and he was forced to take on parenthood all by himself.

**Xxxxx**

Hermione raced in her apartment door as her floo network began to ring noisily.

"Hello? Hello?" Hermione called out frantically.

She wasn't overly surprised when the head of Ginny Weasley popped into her fireplace, however Ginny was.

"Yesterdays clothes?" she said shocked, "Where have you been Hermione Granger?"

Hermione sighed, "It's a long story"

"I'm coming through then"

A second later, Ginny clambered out of Hermione's fireplace and with a swish of her wand, cleaned the soot off herself.

"Shower and talk!" she ordered bossily.

Minutes later, Hermione found herself in the shower, glass spelled opaque, talking to Ginny who sat on the toilet, lid down.

"I can't believe what I'm hearing!" Ginny spluttered.

"I know it was unprofessional Gin. You don't need to tell me! It was utterly poor judgment coupled with a lack of self-control"

"Oh 'Mione stop! I'm not even thinking about work. You've technically done nothing wrong, Scorpius hasn't even started with us yet, I'm more interested in the fact that you slept with Draco Malfoy!"

Not that Ginny could see but Hermione shook her head at herself and seriously considered smacking her head against the shower wall. How could she have been so stupid!

"How was he?"

"Ginny!"

"Oh chill 'Mione. This is 'girl talk'. We discuss these things, men know this, and don't think for a second that Malfoy won't be giving his buddies in the Quidditch shed the full run down either"

A full minute of silence passed before Ginny tried again,

"So come on… how was he?"

"…..Fantastic" Hermione finally said.

Ginny gave a squeal of delight, "I knew it! He's too damn hot not to be a total god in bed!"

"He was quite bossy though"

"So what?" Ginny answered, "A guy who knows what he's doing is such a turn on"

"…..Agreed"

"Ha! I knew it! So what are you going to do?"

The shower turned off and Ginny handed Hermione a towel before Hermione climbed out of the shower wrapped in it.

"I'm going to do nothing" she answered, "Its not right, its not professional and this is supposed to be about that little boy who has lost his mother and gained a father who has not the first clue about rising a child. So I am going to get dressed, go to this bloody Quidditch game and mind Scorpius, then I am returning him to Malfoy along with the name of a good agency who will find him a nanny and I'm getting out of there"

They moved into Hermione's bedroom where Hermione was not the least bit surprised when Ginny moved into her closet and began looking through her clothing trying to pick an outfit. Draco had been right about one thought, Ginny **had** picked all of Hermione's clothes and shoes – the girl simply couldn't be trusted to do that on her own.

"Please 'Mione" Ginny begged, "Why don't you see this out a little longer? Its not like Malfoy is a complete stranger, you do know him, and just because your relationship with scumbag Henry went to shit doesn't mean a relationship with Malfoy will"

"He's a bloody Quidditch player Gin!"

"So what? So is Harry and he is nothing like scumbag Henry!"

"Oh yeah? Have you read Harry's letters recently? He's picking up girls in every town the team plays! He's just like the rest of them"

They paused for a moment while Ginny looked at Hermione, really looked at her,

"Do you really believe that? That Harry would stoop so low as to do to those girls what Henry did to you?"

Ginny and Harry's relationship had fizzled out at the end of the War but both had been ok with that. Harry had gone off to play Quidditch as Seeker for the Puddlemere United playing alongside his old captain Oliver Wood, while Ron had gone into the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

Hermione instantly felt bad, "No I don't mean it Gin. I know Harry would never"

Ginny smiled and handed her a white, short sleeved dress which Hermione knew came up to about mid-thigh.

"Are you sure that's the best choice to be wearing in a Quidditch stadium?"

"Are you questioning my awesome judgment?" Ginny mocked shock.

She handed Hermione a pair of nude heels and some underwear before leaning against the closest door waiting as Hermione's changed – the two girls had been friends for so long now that nudity went unnoticed between them.

"Hermione" Ginny said slowly, "You can't allow Henry to set the standard by which you judge all guys. If you do that you are never going to find someone. We're all flawed and so if you go looking for 'deal breakers' you're probably going to find them"

"Its Malfoy Gin!"

"I know who it is" she said, sighing, "and maybe this is all a little premature but a big part of me is screaming out that you must at least like him a little bit. You're always so annoyingly proper withholding sex for so long when you first meet a guy but Malfoy comes along and suddenly you're fucking before dinner"

"Stop it Gin!" Hermione whined, "Don't make me sound worse then I am"

Ginny laughed, "I'm not saying its bad! I'm simply saying that there must have been a hell of a lot of chemistry going on to convince you that sleeping with Malfoy was a good idea. All I'm saying is maybe you should see what exactly he wants first before you run for the hills. Besides, you're not going to escape him if his son is enrolled at our centre"

Dried and dressed, Hermione headed into the bathroom to fix her hair and do her make up. If she was going to go to a Quidditch game today, Malfoy or not, she was going to look good and she knew Ginny would allow no less.

**Xxxxx**

"YOU FUCKED GRANGER?" Blaise yelled.

"Shut up!" Draco told him, "She said it was bad to swear around Scorpius. Apparently he might pick it up or something"

Scorpius was perched happily in his highchair, spoon in hand, slowly eating away at his breakfast. Draco had found that porridge was the easiest thing to make him. It only required a simple heating charm and milk.

"I need details" Blaise told him.

Draco smirked, "She's hot mate, the clothes do her no justice"

"Was Rollings right? Is she a total cat in the sack?"

"I'd go with lioness"

Blaise slapped his hand to his knee, laughing in victory, "I knew it! I knew she'd been a total knock out!"

Draco nodded and glanced at the clock. She should be back soon.

"So did you chuck her out this morning?"

"No"

Now Draco saw Blaise frown and he knew why. It wasn't normal, Draco always threw the girls out.

"Why not?"

He shrugged, "She was already sneaking out when I woke up. I tried to stop her but- "

"Woah woah woah wait a minute buddy! She was trying to sneak out and you **stopped** her? Why?"

Now Draco frowned, "I don't know. I didn't want her to leave I guess"

They descended into silence as Draco watched Scorpius eat and Blaise watched Draco, confused.

"What is going on mate?" Blaise finally asked him.

"Nothing. I don't know. Nothing I guess" Draco replied.

Blaise's eyes widen slightly, "You **like** her"

"No"

"Yes you do! I've not seen you break your MO with girls since you had that relationship with that chick from Beaubaxtons"

"Celia? Pffft"

"No buddy. You liked her then, you bent over backwards for her before you got bored with her. You're starting to do it again with Granger now. You didn't want her to leave, first sign"

"Maybe a little. So?"

Blaise shrugged, "So nothing mate. If you like her that's good. Its good to have a relationship every once in a while – at least she'll be able to help you out with Scorpius"

"I doubt it" Draco said, "She couldn't wait to get out of here this morning. Couldn't move fast enough"

"That's just girls for you mate. She was probably having a freak out. I guarantee you she went home, probably rung up Mini-Weasel and they're talking it out now as we speak"

"Probably" Draco chuckled.

"So what are you going to do?" Blaise probed.

To this Draco did not really have answer. Ok so Blaise was right – he liked Granger- that much he had already known … sort of. Stopping by her store front each time to passed to try and catch a glimpse of her was probably a pretty strong indication. Granger was everything he assumed he would one day look for in a woman but was he ready to even begin settling down? Did he want to? Because a girl like Granger was never going to agree to just a fling… if she would agree to anything at all.

"I have no clue mate. Test the waters I guess. I'll know more about what she's feeling when she comes back… which will be any minute now… and maybe then we'll see"

To this Blaise nodded, "Well I'm going to clear out then. I'd hate to get in the way of the two of you"

In a moment of 'uncle-like' affection, Blaise moved over to Scorpius and ruffled his soft blonde hair,

"Scorpius, buddy, good luck"

It was at this precise moment, that there was a knock on Draco's front door. Blaise moved towards the fire grate and clambered in,

"I'll see you in the sheds in 30?"

Draco nodded and then, with a flash of green flames, Blaise was gone. With a final glance to his son to make sure he was ok, Draco moved to open the front door and was almost blown away by the sight that greeted him. Granger stood there in a figure hugging white dress, wearing heels that made her legs look a mile long and her hair had been done up into those sexy curls that fell around her face beautifully.

"Hello again" she said quietly, her eyes never leaving his face.

All of his plans about "testing the waters" flew out of the door Draco had just opened and he was powerless to stop them because he knew, looking at Granger, that she'd won this round.

"Ah come in" he croaked.

Not wasting another moment, Hermione moved inside his apartment and straight over to Scorpius.

"Hey Scor" she cooed at him, "Are you enjoying your yummy breakfast?"

Draco watched as Scorpius's eye lit up and he waved his spoon around happily, eyes fixed on Hermione as she smiled back at him.

"Have you packed a baby bag like I showed you?"

She turned to him, eyebrows raised in question, and Draco nodded, moving into Scorpius's room to get it. Hermione followed him, taking the bag off him and placing it on the change table to check its contents. Finally, she turned to him and smiled.

"You did well Draco"

He smirked, "Is that comment based solely on the bag Granger or are you trying to praise me on another of my recent accomplishments?"

He watched as a faint blush graced her cheeks before she quickly zipped up the bag and made to leave Scorpius's room, muttering,

"The bag Draco"

He was quicker though and grabbed her arm, pulling her back roughly, causing her to come crashing into him, chest to chest. He dared not give her a minute of composure, instead he immediately crashed his lips to her own, a little surprised when she reacted almost instantly. She tasted so sweet, like raspberries, and her lips were so soft and plump that Draco knew he could kiss her for hours and not get bored with her. It amazed him really, he'd been walking past Granger's centre for two years now – ever since he opened his own store – and he'd been pausing to watch her move, examining her beauty, ever since then. He'd fantasized about her, played out their every move in his mind, and yet the real thing was so much better then Draco had ever been able to imagine. He increased the pressure of their kiss, slipping his tongue inside her mouth, as he allowed a hand to wander, slipping down her body to her hips, feeling all her luscious curves. Then, as soon as it had begun it over was as Hermione pulled back,

"The baby!" she panted.

He was unable to stop her then. She left him standing in the middle of Scorpius's room as she went to check on him. Sighing, he took a moment to compose himself and followed her out. Hermione was lifting Scorpius down from his highchair having cleaned him up. She collected his empty porridge dish and took it to the sink to wash.

"So what exactly happens today?" she asked him, back to him.

"Well I'm due at the stadium in 20 minutes at 10 o'clock. The game starts at 11 o'clock. I've gotten tickets for you and Scorpius – you're in the best seats like I promised. After the game has ended, we have to warm down and debrief which takes about an hour and then I can go home"

"Ok" Hermione nodded, "So I guess Scorpius and I will follow behind you in a half hour and then we'll meet you back here after the game. That is, if you're comfortable allowing me access to the wards and leaving me here with your son in your apartment?"

Draco scoffed as Hermione turned around and moved back into the living room. She came to a stop near Scorpius, watching him silently, as he played with an array of toys scattered across the floor.

"I'm not worried about leaving you alone in my apartment Granger. I have nothing to hide. You've seen all the….interesting…. hidden treasures I have anyway"

He watched as, yet again, another faint blush graced her beautiful face but she was not going to let him win so easily,

"The word 'treasures' could be held as debatable"

"Ah now there's that spark of fire I like to see in my women"

He was pushing her buttons now and he knew he'd pushed a good one when Hermione frowned and narrowed her eyes to glare at him,

"I am **not** one of 'your women' Draco"

"Oh but you are" he chuckled, "I've ravaged you and I know from the scratches I have down my back that you enjoyed yourself Granger. Afraid I've ruined all other men for you? I probably have"

"How can you be so egotistical?" she snapped, "Just stop it – stop mentioning it – stop giving me those looks – just stop!"

Sensing if he didn't intervene soon, the woman was going to get herself all worked up, Draco reached out and took Hermione's hand, holding it firmly and yet the stroke of his thumb against her palm was so gentle.

"Many women have come and gone from this apartment babe. However, with you last night, I discovered a very intriguing chemistry – even you can't deny it Granger, what we had going on was hot – I'm simply just trying to explore that chemistry with you. It doesn't happen every day that you stumble along something like that, although it is a bit of a turn off having to discuss this with you. It could be much hotter if you'd just let things play out"

She didn't snatch her hand back, which he took as a good sign, but her eyes did flick to the clock instead,

"You need to go or you're going to be late. When you get back there **are** things we need to discuss but they can wait until then. Good luck with the game"

She went to turn around, resigned to focusing on Scorpius, but Draco's hold on her hand stopped her,

"What Granger? No kiss with that wish of good luck?"

With a slight smile and a roll of her eyes, Hermione stepped forward and placed a brief kiss to his lips and ran her hand through his hair, ruffling it slightly,

"Don't fall off your broom" she teased.


	4. Chapter 4

**- Saturday -**

The crowd was roaring their approval as the Montrose Magpies took to the sky. Their black and white uniforms stood out well as they swooped through the sky taking their positions as their captain flew to the centre of the pitch. Hermione could see Draco, idling above everyone in the typical seeker starting position, he seemed relaxed, as if he were enjoying himself – which, given this was his career of choice, Hermione supposed he was. The opposing team, The Pride of Portree, joined them in the sky shortly after. Their uniforms of purple and gold did not seem to impose the threat that the Magpie's uniforms did.

Beside her, completely preoccupied with a small stuffed magpie Hermione had brought him at the entrance, sat Scorpius. Hermione had cast a spell on his seat to muffle the noises around him so the roaring of the crowd would not shock or startle him but she was beginning to wonder if she'd needn't have bothered. Scorpius seemed to be such a relaxed child.

The whistle blew and, in a scurry of movement, the game had begun and the players were off. The snitch was released into the air and Hermione watched as Draco's whole demeanor changed from relaxed to alert and tense. He began making short laps of the stadium, almost like pacing but on a broom. Hermione could see The Prides seeker doing a similar thing. The crowd continued to roar as the Chasers from both teams collided in violent after violent clash. She'd never understood the thrill of a sport that simultaneously put so many lives in danger.

A small hand on Hermione's arm drew her attention back to Scorpius who was attempting to pull himself up to a standing position in his seat in a bid to get to Hermione. Carefully, she lifted him, pulling him onto her lap and pointing up into the sky.

"Look Scor. Can you see Daddy?"

She watched the young boy in fascination as his little eyes roamed the sky before his face finally split into a giant grin and he pointed at Draco,

"Da!"

"That's right" Hermione said, happily, "That's your daddy up there"

The players continued to swoop and dive upon each other, beaters were hitting bludgers and sending players spiraling off on crazy courses in order to avoid their aim and Hermione continued to watch the little boy who seemed captivated by all this chaos. He was going to be like his daddy, she realized, he would probably end up playing in the Quidditch Leagues himself when he was older if he managed to inherit Draco's skill. In a way, this thought made Hermione want to clutch the little boy sitting excitedly in her lap, closer and shelter him. It was such a violent sport Quidditch and Scorpius was such a small boy.

"Miss Granger?"

Hermione's focus on the game was disrupted suddenly by a strange gentlemen in official ministry wizarding robes who had appeared in front of her and was now seating himself in Scorpius's empty seat.

"Yes?" she asked him confused.

"I have been asked to pass along a message"

Confused as to whom would wish to contact her at a Quidditch game, Hermione nodded, accepting the piece of paper the man handed to her.

'_Mione,_

_What are you doing at a Quidditch game? I thought you hated Quidditch and whose is that kid with you? Have you started nannying? Meet me up in the Ministry's box after the game. _

_Ron_

Hermione sighed, she should have known. Of course Ron would be here. Frowning, she handed the note back to the man.

"Please tell Mr Weasley I will see him then and that no I haven't started nannying"

With a curt nod, the man departed and Hermione was left to partake in a moments thought. What in the world was she going to tell Ron? How would she explain to him that she was minding Draco Malfoy's illegitimate child for him without Ron losing it and throwing a major tantrum. While interactions after the war between Draco and Harry may have become civil, Ron was still very wary of Draco Malfoy and he still disliked him and made no secrets of this.

Hermione frowned. The war – now that was a sobering thought. The war had been hard on everyone. It had all come to a head in the midst of Hermione, Ron and Harry's seventh year. A seventh year they had not attended. Instead, the trio had fled, camping out all over England desperately trying to destroy all of Voldemort's horcruxes. In the end they had done so and Harry had defeated Wizarding kind's most evil wizard in a one-to-one final showdown on the school grounds. The following year, after much harassment from Hermione, the trio had returned to Hogwarts to help rebuild and also to complete their seventh year (then called Eighth year). There had been many witches and wizards in their graduating year, including Blaise Zabini and Draco.

Hermione only knew the bare details of what Draco had been through during the war and in the final year afterwards but she knew his parents had done their best, in the end, to try and protect him. However, they had gone to trial and been found guilty of betraying Wizarding kind in their support of Voldemort. They had been given lifetime sentences in Azkaban. Hermione knew Draco had shortly after his graduation ordered the destruction of his family's manor and had elected a Board of Governors to run his family's business while he distanced himself by opening his own small business and followed his dreams of playing Quidditch. She had seen during their tryst that he'd had his dark mark changed into a different tattoo, however what it was she had not had time to see.

"Oh dear Merlin! PLEASE tell me you are simply seated in the wrong seats and he has not managed to have some kind of secret child with some two-bit whore!"

"Excuse me!"

The lady that stood before Hermione was dripping from head to toe in riches. She wore a jeweled beret in her hair, a plunging jeweled necklace, rings on almost every finger and her clothes screamed out that she had wealth and yet Hermione found the lady standing before her to be lack any modicum of class someone raised in such wealth would possess.

"Whose child is that?" the lady demanded.

The crowd around Hermione was beginning to stare and she found herself colouring slightly under their gaze.

"For heavens sake, who are you and will you sit down!"

Hermione didn't wait, she simply grabbing the lady's hand and pulled her into Scorpius's empty seat.

"I am Annabella Puncey and I am Mr Malfoy's agent. Now why don't you explain to me why you are sitting in Mr Malfoy's private seats and who this child is?"

"His agent? You're Draco's agent?" Hermione raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"You are not answering my questions. Do you have any idea who I am?" the lady rudely responded.

For a moment, Hermione could not help by laugh. She hated agents. They were always rude and snobbish. She had very little to do with her own agent because of this attitude that seemed to come from people working in the public relations industry but for a moment Hermione thought she would indulge this rude woman.

"Miss Puncey" she told her snidely, "I can assure you I have no idea who you are. I think the more pressing question is, do you have any idea who I am?"

She watched the lady closely, watched her as she eyes slowly took in her face, her characteristics which had become so well known over the last eight years. It became obvious to Hermione when the knut dropped because this Annabella Puncey's entire facial expression changed from rude and snobbish to shocked and accommodating.

"Oh Miss Granger! I do apologise. You must realize Miss this kind of thing happens all the time with people of a lower class trying to sneak into – "

"A lower class?" Hermione questioned, "Don't you mean the two-bit whores? Save it Miss Puncey, I really don't wish to hear any more of your ramblings. I have but two suggestions for you – one, I would suggest you discuss any questions you have about myself sitting in Mr Malfoy's private seating with Mr Malfoy. Two, I would get out of my sight immediately before I have my agent contact you and we drag, what I'm sure you consider to be a good name which I just find to be made vile through your horrid personality, through the media mudpile we both know **my** name is capable of creating for you. Ok?"

"O-ok"

It did not take the rude woman more then three second to vanish and Hermione could not help but chuckle to herself. She very rarely took it upon herself to use her name and public status to intimidate people but that woman had had it coming.

"AND MALFOY HAS DIVED FOR THE SNITCH!"

Hermione's eyes snapped back to the pitch as Draco raced through the throng on players eyes keenly set on the snitch. The seeker from The Prides was racing along side them, both players set on their target. The snitch shot up into the air and both players were forced to wrench their brooms up suddenly and it was this slight movement that allowed The Prides seeker to kick out at Draco, skidding his broom slightly off course, and give him the seconds advantage he needed to grasp the snitch.

In that moment, Hermione's heart sunk slightly as she watched Draco's face register that he had been foiled and not quite quick enough to recover and win the game for his team.

"AND THE PRIDE OF PORTREE HAVE DEFEATED THE MONTROSE MAGPIES IN A CLOSE, NAIL-BITING MATCH!"

"Da?" Scorpius said, peering up at Hermione with his big grey eyes.

Sadly, Hermione shook her head.

"Daddy lost Scorpius"

The ref was blowing the whistle and the fans decked out in their purple and gold were loud as they cheered on their victorious team. The fans of Montrose were quiet, preferring to begin to pack up their belongings and move from the stand. Hermione's eyes found Draco's found on the pitch only to find he was watching them, she smiled sadly at him and was met with a despondent shrug as their team began to depart the pitch.

"Come on Scor" Hermione said quietly, "Lets go and face uncle Ron before we head off"

**Xxxxx**

The Ministry's box up in the Stadium was quiet by the time Hermione found her way up there with Scorpius. She had not allowed for how hard it would be to thread her way through the crowds with a handbag and baby bag and baby in tow. In hindsight, she should have employed the use of an undetectable extension charm on her bag and condensed her load. Ron was sitting at a table in the centre of the room, looking over some papers.

"'Mione!" he greeted when she entered.

"Hey Won Won" she said affectionately.

He groaned, "You and Harry are never going to let me live that down are you?"

She smiled, "Probably not"

Carefully, she placed all her bags and Scorpius down on the ground, checking the toddler was happy to sit and play with his little Magpie before she faced Ron once more.

"So what's going on?" Ron asked her, "Whose kid is that?"

"Well I'm glad you're already sitting or I'd ask you to sit down" Hermione told him, moving slowly towards him.

She saw the corners of his mouth pick up slightly at her joke.

"This is Scorpius" she said slowly, "He's Draco Malfoy's son and a new client to my centre"

She watched warily as Ron processed the information, hoping that he was not about to explode and scare the living daylights out of the baby.

"Draco Malfoy…. has a child" Ron said outloud, "Someone had a child…. with Draco Malfoy. Someone allowed Draco Malfoy to touch them long enough… to get knocked up. Someone is having sex…. with Draco Malfoy"

Hermione couldn't help but feel herself bristle slightly at Ron's disbelief. Was it that hard to process that someone might want to sleep with Draco Malfoy? He made it seem like these people were just…. stupid. **She** had slept with Malfoy, though Merlin knew Ron didn't need to know that.

"Plenty of people have been or are having sex with Draco Malfoy Ron" she huffed impatiently.

He frowned, "And where do you fit into all this?"

"Scorpius's existence came as quite a shock to Malfoy. I'm simply helping him out is all. He hasn't had time to find a nanny yet and he's enrolled Scorpius at our centre"

"The child has no fangs or horns or a tail…."

"The child is not a monster Ron" Hermione sighed exasperatedly.

Quickly, she crossed the room and swept Scorpius and his toy up into her arms protectively.

"He's just a little boy who has been thrown into this whirlwind of a life and he needs as much love and support as he can get right now. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get Scorpius home and you need to get back to work"

"I'm sorry 'Mione" Ron said, getting up and collecting her bags of the floor for her, "I'm just a little shocked is all. You're doing a very nice thing for Malfoy though Merlin only knows he doesn't deserve it. Just drop the kid off home and get out of there, I don't want you to get caught up with the likes of him ok?"

"I'm a big girl Ron, I can't look after myself" she said, rolling her eyes, "I'll see you for drinks tomorrow ok?"

Ron nodded and held the door open for her as she left. He had taken that much more calmly then she had expected, Hermione wondered how Ron would take the news that she had slept with him too. A slight shudder ran down her spine, it was no matter. Ron was never going to know.

**Xxxxx**

A half hour later and Hermione carried Scorpius in the door to Draco's apartment. She was not surprised to find he wasn't yet back, he wasn't due for another 15 or so minutes yet but with a glance at the clock Hermione realized Scorpius was about a 20 minutes into his naptime. Ungracefully, she dropped all the bags onto the floor at the front door and glanced down at the little boy in her arms. He was snuggled into her, still clutching his toy magpie, but very quickly beginning to doze and Hermione realized he was not going to be able to stay awake long enough to greet Draco.

Once inside Scorpius's nursery, Hermione gave him a quick nappy change and wiped him down, ensuring he was clean after his trip to the stadium. She performed a quick heating spell on one of his bottles and brought him to his crib, gently settling him in amongst his blankets with his bottle and magpie toy.

"You are loved Scorpius" she said to him softly, as she stroked his hair, "You are loved and you are safe and you will grow up into a wonderful son that any mummy or daddy would be proud of"

She watched him as slowly his little eyes began to close and his grip grew slack on his bottle. He was so peaceful and so beautiful and Hermione realized with a jolt that she was beginning to fall very much in love with this little boy who was currently in her care. She shook her head, she had to remember that this was Malfoy's son and not her own. At the end of the day, she was just looking after him and soon there would be a nanny on the scene and Hermione would have no call to see Scorpius except when she was at work. She had to remember that.

**Xxxxx**

Draco trudged silently into his apartment that afternoon after a horrible beginning to his day. His team had lost and while he knew winning was a team effort he still felt responsible for the loss. His team had been going out for a commiseration lunch followed by drinks but Draco had said no. He needed to get home and check on his son and see Granger.

He walked in the front door of his apartment and found the baby bag and her bag dropped at the entrance and looked around searchingly for them. He noticed the door to Scorpius's room was open and when he moved a little closer he heard Granger whisper to his son,

"You are loved Scorpius. You are loved, you are safe and you will grow up into a wonderful son that any mummy or daddy would be proud of"

She said in it such a soft voice, so full of tenderness, that Draco felt a part of him stir inside – she truly was just one of those caring, genuine people. There was silence for another moment or two before Draco heard her begin to leave the room and threw himself onto the couch, trying to look casual and relaxed. He saw her startle slightly when she saw him.

"Oh. I didn't realize you were home"

He shrugged, "I've only just walked in the door"

For another moment of silence, Hermione just stood there as Draco watched her. She was still as gorgeous as she had been this morning, she looked a little more tired and he wondered if her feet were killing her having walked around a stadium in those heels but if they did she wasn't letting on.

"Why don't you come and sit down?" he finally said, patting the spot on the couch beside him.

She looked hesitant at first but then eventually she moved and took a seat beside him.

"I'm sorry about your game" she said quietly, "If its any consolation, I thought you played well"

"Coming from the woman who confesses to having no interest in Quidditch that means a lot" he replied shortly.

Almost instantly he felt bad as he watched Granger register the shock of what he'd said flicker across her face. Forcing himself to relax, Draco took a deep breath and took her hand in his.

"I'm sorry babe" he said, "I didn't mean that. I just hate losing"

"Somethings don't change do they?" she said, "And enough with the 'babe' Draco I **really** don't like it"

He smiled as she cheekily rolled her eyes at him. She had relaxed a lot more in the last couple of years, he realized, being 21 suited Granger. Testing the waters, he stroked his thumb across the palm of her hand that he was holding. He saw her glance at her hand but no more.

"Did you enjoy the game anyway?" he asked her.

"Well actually I have to speak to you about that" she said, "You need to contact your agent and explain what's going on. She accosted me during the game depending to know if I was some whore you'd knocked up"

Instantly, Draco felt a rush of anger race through him. Merlin that woman! Annabella really was getting too big for her boots.

"I'm sorry Granger" he said quietly, "My agent is a little over zealous about protecting my reputation… sometimes she forgets her place"

Granger just shrugged, "Its ok. I may have been a little rude to her truthfully…"

"I'd hardly think so but I will floo her and fix everything I promise"

She nodded, "Ok. I'm glad to say you may have a future Quidditch player on your hands. Scorpius really watched your game today. The poor little thing was so tired by the time I got him home I expect he will sleep for at least two hours"

"Ahh so then this must qualify as 'adult time' then… right?"

He watched her under a heated gaze and noticed that she automatically sat a little straighter, she was on edge, and yet she did not remove her hand from Draco's.

"It would" she said, now appearing to sound more business like, "So in which case there are some adult things we should discuss… like nannys"

With a snap of her fingers and some pretty impressive wandless magic, Draco watched as Hermione's bag flew across the living room to hers and she, finally, took her hand back from him in order to rifle through it, searching for something. Eventually she found it and handed him a card,

"This is the floo network for a nannying company we recommend through the centre. They are very good and will come up with a selection of nannies for you to chose from but I'm sure any of them would be good enough to care for Scorpius. So you should get in contact with them…"

In following with his already bad morning, Draco felt his mood depress a little. A nanny? He didn't want to get a nanny. If he got a nanny then Granger would stop coming around so much and… well… Draco didn't want that.

"What is it Draco? You don't seem happy"

Her tone was all business now Draco realized. She'd managed to switch off from the fact that she was sitting on his couch with him in an incredibly hot – and short- dress and she'd gone into 'child carer mode'.

"Its nothing" he replied, dismissively.

"If you're not happy with the company then I can always find you another one, I just thought to give you the card of –"

"Its not that" he interrupted.

He was being scarily close to pouting now he realized which was unacceptable but at the same time he realized he had every ounce of Granger's attention which could never be a bad thing.

"Then what is it?" she demanded.

He sighed, "I just figured that…."

"Yes?"

"Well I just figured that Scorpius already had a pretty great carer for him right now…"

His eyes shot to hers and he watched as she registered what he meant and slowly she transformed back into 'girl Granger' the one who did realize where she was, who she was with, what she was wearing, the situation she was in etc. Slightly awkward but sexy as hell Granger.

"Oh Draco – I just – I can't – Its not appropriate for me to continue to care for Scorpius here in your home"

"Why not?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"People might begin to think that something is going on or that you and I have – "

"So what?"

Her eyes widened slightly, in shock perhaps, "So what? So we will both be hounded by the press and they will write all sorts of things that aren't true!"

"What if they were true?"

He was throwing it out there, cornering her, he realized but Draco had never been one for subtly. He found blatant honesty to be much more effective in getting what he wanted.

"But they're not…."

Frustrated, Draco sighed, "Granger must you be so difficult? I am proposing a relationship here. I mean I already know you get on well with Scorpius, so far you and I are getting on well, we already know we have great chemistry in the sack… so it kind of makes sense"

For a moment, Draco thought maybe he'd got her. She went quiet again and she appeared to be thinking really hard. He was seconds away from patting himself on the back and leaving over for a celebratory snog when Granger suddenly jumped up off the couch, grabbed her bag and headed straight for the door.

"Where are you going?" Draco cried out, shocked.

He was not entirely sure what he had done wrong but he knew he'd definitely done something wrong when the girl paused at the door, spun around and glared at him defiantly,

"It does **not** kind of make sense" she snapped, "A relationship is supposed to be based on just more than convenience Malfoy! If you want convenience then you ring that number I have given you and you hire a nanny! Oh and try not to sleep with whichever poor nanny you do hire, the company does not look favorably on clients with a nanny fetish!"

Draco did not even have time to comment on what she'd said or her sudden bolt for the door or anything, however, before Hermione Granger rushed out his front door and down the hallway. She was a woman on a mission and her mission seemed to be to put as much distance between Draco and herself as soon as humanly possible.

"What did I say?" Draco murmured to himself.


	5. Chapter 5

**- Sunday -**

It had been a busy morning. Scorpius had risen at 6am, an hour Draco was most certainly not used to, and Draco had been interviewing nannies. He'd rung the company Hermione had suggested that morning and, an hour later, three candidates had shown up at his doorstep. A part of Draco had wanted to laugh when he realized all three candidates were over the age of forty and he wouldn't consider any of them attractive – he knew deep down the owner of the company had made these selections baring Draco's reputation in mind. In the end he'd chosen Mrs Phelps, Janice. She was easy to speak to, did not seemed phased by Draco and had even joked with him about his bachelor days and she was easily available most times as her husband travelled for work and her two children were grown. Janice had agreed to come back at noon for a trial of sorts to see how she went with Scorpius.

It was 11:30am now and Draco was sitting on his living room floor with Scorpius who was playing with his stuff dragon and stuffed magpie toys. He was a happy boy, Draco thought, Hermione was right. Scorpius just went with the flow and was happy to entertain himself most of the time. He rarely complained unless he was tired or hungry.

Hermione, now that was something Draco needed to think over, she'd stormed out of his apartment yesterday and had yelled at him that relationships should not be a matter of convenience. What was that supposed to mean? Of course relationships were a matter of convenience… You met someone, found you liked them and they you, you shagged them and, if it was good, formed a couple and did more stuff together. That was a relationship was it not? Well he had met Granger (or re-met her), he found she'd suitably caught his attention enough for him to start liking her, they'd shagged and it had been mind-blowing, ok so she hadn't admitted to liking him or to enjoying their shag but she'd cum hadn't she? Hadn't she? Merlin's beard! Draco felt shock rise through his system as a horrible thought occurred to him… what if she'd faked it? Women were known to do that. What if Granger had faked her orgasm and that was why she had been trying to sneak out the next morning?!

A quick glance at the clock told Draco that Mrs Phelps would arrive in fifteen minutes. It was now imperative that he find Hermione. If she** had** faked it and then tried to sneak out because of it then he had to know! Relationship talk aside, Draco's whole sexual future relied on this. He glanced at Scorpius again, he was still happy busily playing away with his toys. Nodding determinedly to himself, Draco got up and moved into his room. He needed to go and see Hermione and have a chat with her, he needed to hear from her that no faking had occurred at any time and he needed to, obviously, explain to her that whatever book she'd been reading on relationships was wrong and relationships could in fact be convenient.

Out of his closet, Draco pulled a pair of black, form-fitting jeans tailor made to suit him and a grey t-shirt, also form fitting. Finally, he slipped on a pair of his expensive sponsor-supplied shoes and checked his reflection. He looked casual but he looked good.

Moving back out into the living room, he checked on Scorpius again. Scorpius was in the middle of constructing what looked like a rather epic battle between his dragon and his magpie. Draco paid this play no more then a minutes thought before he was back to thinking about Hermione. Everyone knew that every Sunday at noon, Hermione would meet Potter, Weasley and Red for drinks down in Diagon Alley. It was a standing arrangement. Draco could very easily show up there but would that only serve to piss her off more? Probably but otherwise it was going to have to wait until Monday and, frankly, Draco was too impatient to wait until Monday so Sunday drinks it would be then.

A knock at the door caught Draco's attention and he sighed audibly with relief – finally!

**Xxxxx**

Hermione stood at the bar of The Rusty Cauldron waiting patiently for her drink. She was early as always but she kind of liked it that way – it meant she got to arrive first and grab an early drink alone. She was dressed semi-casual today, it being a Sunday and all. She'd chosen an outfit of tight jeans, a white singlet and a pair of white strappy heels that morning. Her hair was curly and out and she'd barely applied make up this morning. The bar tender smiled fondly at her and she handed Hermione a glass of elf-wine - Hermione's standard drink order. She sipped it happily, content to just take the moment to breathe and take stock of everything going on in her life. The moment never lasted long though…

"I'm here!" Ginny called out to her as she approached her.

Ginny smiled and gave a polite nod to the same bar tender who began fixing Ginny's drink. Ginny was dressed far more smartly, preferring to don a tight fitting but cuteish summer dress and a pair of sky-high heels. She always tended to dress up more then usual when Harry was around. Hermione didn't think it was because she entertained thoughts of replaying history, more she just wanted to make sure that Harry was aware that she was fine and fabulous.

The two girls took seats at the table that had unofficially become reserved for the four friends on a Sunday afternoon. It was the perfect table, Hermione had once reasoned, it was close enough to the bar's windows to filter natural light, but not so close that any looming paparazzi could snap a photo of them, they were close enough to the bar to be noticed by the bar staff tending to them, but not so close that their conversations could be overheard, and their table was a part of the bar, near the other tables but also far enough way to afford them that little extra bit of privacy.

"So how did the Quidditch game go yesterday?" Ginny asked Hermione.

She shrugged, "I don't know. The Magpies lost, Ron called me up into some kind of Ministry area to explain why I was hanging out with Malfoy's son and then I brought Scorpius back to the apartment and left when Malfoy returned"

Ginny frowned. Hermione had been expecting that. Ginny had been hoping for a far more passionate and moral bending outcome.

"So there was no discussion about what happened between the two of you?" she prodded.

"He tried" Hermione sighed, "But Gin its like I said. It's Malfoy! He has no idea the kind of girl I am, the kind of relationship I would be looking for and its pointless to even try and explain it to him. He's too used to being a Quidditch star and having girls throw themselves at him"

"Hermione, its Malfoy. He saw you in school, he saw you with Harry and Ron and to a lesser degree Victor Krum. He knows you're not a push over and he knows you're not the type to drool at his feet and yet he still seemed to show some interest in you. Its like I said, you allowed one dickhead Quidditch player to set the bar by which you judge them all and its not very fair"

There wasn't going to be any convincing Ginny, Hermione was beginning to think. So instead, she took another sip of her wine and sighed,

"It doesn't matter. Lets move on. How was your weekend?"

Perhaps sensing that there would be nothing further achieved in pushing the topic with Hermione, Ginny allowed herself to be distracted by her friend's change in subject. She launched into a brief description of her weekends activities which included venturing out into Wizarding London on Friday night to go dancing with Lavender and a couple of the girls from school at a club. More often then not, Hermione attempted to avoid these little excursions into the nightlife. The girls and Ginny had enough celebrity status to attract one, maybe two, reporters when they went out but Hermione found that on the rare occasion she chose to join them that a herd of media scavengers would follow them and she hated the idea of her every move being watched and photographed, especially when she was doing something so successful at lowering her inhibitions as drinking.

"Excuse me Miss Granger, Miss Weasley"

Hermione's train of thought was broken as one of the wait staff from the bar delivered to Hermione a letter clearly delivered by an owl if the rouge feather was anything to go by. Quickly, Hermione's eyes scanned the note before she followed it back up and placed it in her small bag she'd brought along.

"Harry and Ron are running late" she informed Ginny, "Apparently Harry's practice is running late and Ron is overseeing a conference that is happening during said practice"

She snapped the clasp shut on her bag as she finished speaking and looked up at her friend, confused, when she did not immediately receive a response from Ginny. However, instead of finding her friend alert and listening to her, Hermione found Ginny to be staring at the door to the bar, a strange look on her face.

"What is it Gin?" Hermione asked, now trying to look at the doorway herself.

Slowly, Ginny turned back around to face Hermione, a small smile on her face.

"I'll tell you but you're not allowed to freak out because it could just be a coincidence – although I highly doubt it" she said.

"What is it?"

The doorway was all but empty now and Hermione could see nothing that would draw Ginny's attention so her curiosity was peaked as her friend sat there smiling at her.

"Remember no freaking out ok?"

"Fine! I won't freak out" Hermione said, "Now will you just tell me?!"

Ginny rolled her eyes dramatically at her friend before she stopped smiling completely and fixed Hermione with a determined stare, ensuring she would have her friend's full attention as she shared her news.

"Draco Malfoy has just thread his way through the throng of reporters outside and come inside. He's up at the bar ordering a drink and he's looking this way"

"What?!" Hermione hissed quietly.

Instantly her eyes flicked to the bar where, of course, stood Malfoy with what looked like a firewhiskey and soda in his hand and, sure enough, his eyes were fixed firmly upon her. The minute they locked eyes though, he left his spot at the bar and began moving towards them.

"Oh great" Hermione said under her breath.

"Just smile and act nice" Ginny told her, "Obviously he's got a reason for coming here"

"Where is Scorpius? Who is supposed to be taking care of him?" Hermione shot back at her.

"My guess would be that we're about to find out"

Ginny paid Hermione's glare at her response no mind as she flicked her hair back silently and smiled as Malfoy finally arrived at his destination - their table.

"Good afternoon ladies" he greeted quite charmingly.

"How are you Draco?" Ginny asked him sweetly.

"I am quite well" he responded, "and how are you Hermione?"

"Fine Malfoy" she said shortly.

Ginny frowned at her while Malfoy simply raised an eyebrow at her response.

"Well I might just pop into the ladies room and freshen up" Ginny said to no one in particular as neither party was really listening to her.

Malfoy seemed to wait for Ginny to leave before he slipped into a seat beside her and placed his drink on the table next to hers.

"Before you ask, I hired a nanny. She is with Scorpius right now and I've only stepped out for an hour. I am taking this hands on parenting thing seriously babe" he told her.

"I told you, don't call me babe Malfoy!"

"Oh Hermione, such a long list of things I'm not allowed to do" he sighed dramatically.

"Why are you here?"

"I need some answers"

She frowned, "What's wrong with Scorpius?"

Annoyed, Malfoy shook his head, "Did you not just hear me say I'd hired a nanny?! Scorpius is fine!"

Hermione was not beginning to get a good sense of where this conversation may lead, so in order to stall it a little longer, she sighed, ran a hand through her curls and took a long sip of her wine. Finally, when she could avoid it no more and since he just sat there continuing to stare at her, she asked,

"Then what is it Malfoy?"

He leant forward, fixing her with a serious stare, and asked,

"Did you enjoy yourself the other night Hermione?"

Instantly, Hermione felt the flush of red colour begin to flood her cheeks as she swallowed nervously and glanced around for Ginny but curse her. The young red-head had returned but she'd chosen to stop up at the bar and was now conversing with some strange, although quite handsome, gentleman up at the bar. There'd be no catching her attention now, Ginny and men these days were like a moth to the flame – there was no distracting her.

A hand on her knee, brought Hermione back to the present conversation she was supposed to be involved in and she glanced back at Malfoy,

"I'm waiting for my answer princess" he told her, although the smirk on his face perhaps suggested it already knew it.

"You know I did" she told him, quietly.

The smirk on his face grew and Hermione knew he had enjoyed hearing that way too much.

"And I got you off? Sent you over the edge? Made you see stars?"

"Yes!" Hermione hissed, now getting annoyed that he would continue to question her about their 'experience'.

For a moment the jerk even had the audacity to chuckle before he squeezed her knee affectionately and said,

"Then I do not understand your theory that relationships are not based on convenience"

"Are you kidding me?" Hermione snapped, "**That** is what this is about?!"

"Yes!"

"Malfoy I am out having drinks with my friends! You came barging in here to have this discussion with me now?!"

He nodded, "Yes, and technically, its your friend since Potty and Weasel aren't here yet and, another technicality, your friend is not having drinks with you at the moment, she is having drinks with Nicko up at the bar. I, however, am sitting here with you with a drink so **we** are having drinks right now"

"Nicko?"

"My team mate" he clarified, "I ran into him out in the street and convinced him to come in and have a drink with a pretty girl"

"Well you thought all this through very well didn't you?" Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"Now now baby" Draco said with another chuckle, "I really did run into Nick on the street. That was just a coincidence. Obviously, my coming in here was not. I am trying very hard to understand you but you didn't leave me a lot of options, its not like we see each other socially so it was either turning up at your drinks today or turning up at your workplace. I felt you might appreciate this option of the two more"

"Well obviously" Hermione sighed.

He smiled and Hermione was shocked to find that his smile caused her to feel a flutter inside her.

"So explain it to me princess. Explain to me how relationships are not based on convenience"

"I didn't say they weren't based on convenience Malfoy. I said that relationships should be based on **more** then convenience"

He nodded, a serious look now gracing his face, "I see… like what?"

"Oh for Merlin's sake" Hermione muttered, now getting fed up, "Like chemistry, things in common, the same ideals and goals, the same expectations of a partner, commitment, acceptance… to name a few"

She watched him now, she watched as Malfoy sat there taking everything she'd said on board. A part of her felt he may now just give up and leave her alone to enjoy her drink, the other part of her was preparing itself because she doubted he was done yet. He always had been a pain in her ass and continuing this conversation with her right now would be right up the alley on someone deemed a pain in the ass.

"I do accept you Hermione" he told her quietly, "I accept that you had a very different up bringing to me, that you lived in a completely different world and that you have fought hard to make a place for yourself in a world that you weren't born into but obviously belong in. I accept that you are a functioning member of society and that you do a lot of good for a lot of people, myself and Scorpius included"

"Yes ok but – "

"Commitment is a new one to me but I think that probably goes hand in hand with one of your expectations of a partner. You know my past, both at Hogwarts and outside of it, I've always been about finding a girl I can stick it to and then high-tailing it out of there. I'm not used to the idea of committing myself to one girl but it occurs to me that if I was to do that, that you would be the exact girl I should commit to"

"How do –"

"I think we share of some the same ideals and goals. My goal is to be successful in my career, as I am sure yours is. I have another goal now in that I want to raise my son right and ensure he has everything good in his upbringing that I never had. I want him to have a family, I am sure a family is something you are looking for also. Last I heard you'd left your parents in Australia right? As for the things in common, ok so maybe we don't have so much in common but ever heard of opposites attract baby? And you know we already have great chemistry"

He finished and gazed expectantly at her, waiting for her response, but instead all Hermione could do was sit there silently. She'd expected him to try and respond, yes, but he'd just taken apart her entire argument and given her an answer, mostly, to each criteria she'd just laid out in front of him. She needed a moment, she needed to escape him for a second.

"Excuse me" she told him, "I'm going to the bathroom"

**Xxxxx**

Draco frowned, the bathroom? That was her response to his answers. She was going to the bathroom? Must she make it so hard on him? He was here and he was bloody trying to get her to have a conversation with him and she was fighting him and fighting him and fighting him. He was sitting here, talking about everything all stalker, groupie chicks had dreamed of and she was simply… going to the bathroom?

"You're not going to give up that easily are you?"

Draco looked up to see Red standing over him, a drink in hand.

"She's gone to the bathroom Red, I hardly see why I should have to follow her in there" he replied, smartly.

"She's gone to escape you Malfoy. That's classic Hermione 101. She'd fled the scene for a moment so she can collect herself, come up with an argument and then she'll return to face you"

"She – "

" - and you don't want to let her make that argument Malfoy. Hermione is stubborn and, what's more, she's incredibly nervous of you. Whatever argument she comes up with is going to be a good one and you're not going to be able to fault her logic. Our Hermione is nothing but logical"

Draco frowned, "Nervous of me? Why is she nervous of me?"

Exasperatedly, Ginny sighed, "I'm not going to beat around the bush Malfoy. I know about everything that's happened between you and Hermione so far and you've got her cornered a little. However, you're doing a spectacular job of building her an escape route from her corner so I'm going to help you out a bit. Hermione is single, she has been for a while, ever since that bloody Rolling jerk, now Hermione can explain the Rollings incident to you so all I'll say is that he did a number on her. Ever since then, Hermione has been single and she'd been telling herself that she enjoys it that way. She doesn't enjoy it that way though, its just safer for her that way. Now you've come out of nowhere and you're smart and egotistical and you've backed her into a corner because she is very attracted to you, more so then to any other guy in a while, but you know the kind of girl she is and you're offering her everything she wants, deep down inside, but she's too scared to take it from you because – well - she's telling herself she enjoys being single and you do bare some similarities to Rollings, naming the Quidditch lifestyle you live"

"Hold up Red, let me get this straight, you're saying Hermione doesn't want to be single but she's desperately trying to stay single anyway and part of that reason is because I'm scaring her by trying to offer her a relationship and commitment and all of this because Rollings was a dickhhead?"

"In short, yes" Ginny replied.

"Well that doesn't leave me with much does it?"

"Well actually it does" Ginny disagreed, "But how badly do you actually want to try to have a relationship with Hermione?"

"Bad enough that I've risked crossing Potty and Weasel to come and see her. There is a chemistry there that I know we'd be stupid not to explore – I can actually see myself considering her seriously"

Ginny nodded, "Then you need to stop messing it up. The first step is, you need to take back the upper hand from my girl, you're letting her call all the shots at the moment and she's about to come back at you with a damn good argument as to why the two of you shouldn't test out a relationship. You need to take back the control, she's not ready for it yet, not while she's still having a freak-out over the idea of commitment to another Quidditch player. I don't know what you've been doing so far Malfoy that's been getting Hermione to do as you've asked, and I don't want to know, but if I were you I would be following her right now and taking the reigns back. Do you understand?"

"I get it" Draco said.

"Good because here comes Nick" Ginny said, a smile now gracing her face.

Now knowing he needed to get to Hermione, Draco stood and moved towards the bathrooms. As he moved a plan began to form in the back of his mind but he needed somewhere private in which to carry it out. However, as he saw Hermione departing the women's bathroom, it all came falling into place.

**Xxxxx**

Hermione moved back into the bar, she'd gone to the bathroom, splashed some water on her face and fixed her make up and now she was ready to face Malfoy. She knew exactly what she was going to say to him, how she was going to explain to him that this relationship idea of his was nonsense and she was going to make him listen to her once and for all. There would be no more of this showing up at drinks or calling her for help with Scorpius or luring her into his bedroom. No, Hermione was going to put a stop to it once and for all.

She gazed up towards their table and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion when she could no longer spot Malfoy. Instead, only Ginny and Nic were sitting up there. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an arm grasped her wrist and pulled her outside, into the back area of the bar, a small little courtyard blocked off by a high brick fence, where extra chairs and tables were stacked up over to one side.

"Malfoy – what?"

But she didn't have a chance to speak before he forced her up against the wall and crashed his lips to hers.

**Xxxxx**

Now Draco knew what he was doing. He knew how to be this guy, he knew how to call the shots with Hermione – he'd just never envisaged that this may be the way to actually get her to listen to him. But hey, if this was what Red was suggesting then Draco could corral Hermione with his eyes shut.

He crashed his lips to hers passionately, forcing his tongue inside her open mouth and pushing his body hard against hers, trapping her between the wall and himself. He could feel himself hardening at the thought of having her so close, so he angled himself to rub his arousal against her, making sure she knew exactly how much she affected him.

"Malfoy!" she gasped, shocked.

He grabbed her wrists in one of his hands and forced them above her head, groaning,

"Say my name Hermione"

He squeezed her wrists in his hand a little roughly,

"Draco" she breathed.

"Exactly" he told her, "You should be calling me Draco. We are not seventeen and in school anymore. Now why don't you tell me whatever little argument you came up with in your trip to escape me in the bathroom"

He felt her freeze for a moment as he called her out but then she said,

"Its not fair on Scorpius. His mothers just abandon him and he barely knows his father and -"

"Bullshit" Draco told her, "That's the best argument you came up with? Scorpius is 16 months old, he won't even remember this period of his life when he grows up. As far as his memories go, I'll have always been there. I'm his father Hermione but that doesn't make me celibate. Besides, Its not like I'm going to continue to stick it to hundreds of women, just one"

In a matter of perfect timing, Draco gave a wave of his hand and completely remove Hermione's jeans, they hung themselves neatly over a nearby chair as the Gryffindor gasped.

"But you're already sacrificing time with him to follow me to this bar. Its not fair on him Draco!"

"Then I guess you'll just have to come over and we'll just have to wait for 'Grown Up Time' then"

Boldly, Draco snaked a hand up the inside of Hermione's singlet and running her up stomach and waist and under her bra, grasping the pert breast he found inside.

"Merlin I love your tits" he groaned.

He pushed himself up harder against her, grinding his now throbbing erection, still straining against his jeans, against her centre now only covered by a pair of white cotton underwear.

"We can't do this here" she moaned back.

"The hell we can't" Draco growled back.

Quickly, he unzipped the fly of his jeans and released Hermione's hands from his grip, taking one and forcing it inside his pants and onto his hard cock.

"Feel me baby" he ordered her, "Hold me and feel how hard I am for you"

He felt her small hand wrap around him and grasp him and he thrust against her.

"Stroke me" he told her, "I want to be harder then stone by the time I'm inside you"

"We can't –" she breathed.

Determined that she should focus on him, Draco brought both his hands to cup her face and forced her to look him in the eye,

"I know what you need baby" he told her, "You need a man who knows who you are. You need a man who understands your need to be independent and run your own life, who lets you make some of the calls and doesn't always treat you as if you are a fragile piece of glass. Who can romance you and make you feel special but won't smother you either. I can do all those things for you and more Hermione and I can make you happy but you need to understand that here and now, and in all future scenarios that involve my dick driving deep inside you – and it will be deep baby – that I run the show. I know what I'm doing, I do it well and when I tell you to stroke me then you do as I say. If you can do that baby, then this relationship of ours that I'm proposing will be everything you want – sweet, supportive, a partnership during the day, and hot, sweaty and mind-blowing at night - now, tighten your grip on my dick and stroke"

He watched her eyes, he could see the want in them but he could see the flames of an argument too but then in a blink, the flames were gone and all that was left was desire and, then, Draco knew he had her. He felt her grip tighten and slowly, she began to stroke him.

"Yes baby" he groaned, "faster!"

Her pace increased and Draco crashed his lips to Hermione's once more as he heard her give a whimper of lust. He thrust his hips into her hand, as he kneaded her breast with the other, pinching the nipple and causing the most delicious of sounds to erupt from her.

With his free hand, Draco ran his fingers along the crotch of her panties, grinning to himself when he felt how wet they were. She was practically dripping for him.

"You're so wet for me Princess" he told her.

Reaching down, Draco unclasped the button in is jeans and pushed them down, freeing Hermione's hand from the confines of his fly, before he moved back to her, ripping her underwear and flinging it away.

"Are you ready baby? I'm dying to be inside you again. Move your hand" he told her.

Unhanding her breast, Draco used both hands to grab her and lift her, forcing her to wrap her legs around his hips as he drove himself deep inside her.

**Xxxxx**

Back in the bar, Harry and Ron finally walked in the door to find Ginny enjoying drinks with one of Harry's opposition, Nick from the Montrose Magpies.

"Um hello?" Harry said, breaking the silence.

"Hi" Ginny greeted him and Ron warmly, "Boys you know Nick Raven from the Montrose Magpies. We were just having a drink together while Hermione deals with some business. She'll be back in a moment, go and grab a drink"

"Um where is 'Mione?" Ron asked Ginny, suspiciously.

"She won't be long Ron. Geez relax. Go and get a drink!"

"Come on" Harry said, good naturedly punching Ron in the arm, "I bet I can get the bartender to smile first"

"Not bloody likely" Ron responded, now distracted, "She likes me that one!"

"Yeah we'll see" Harry laughed.


End file.
